5 Ways to take care of your body and self

Updated: Sep 27, 2019

Someone intelligent once said, count your blessings. If I had to name one exceptional blessing we all have, among the infinite blessings we are bestowed with, then it has to be this human body. We, earthlings, have been gifted this marvellous body with which we can experience life.

The human body is the best thing ever created, it’ll remain so for centuries to come. Even with the technology we have today, humans haven’t been successful in creating an instrument like this. Every cell in this body is like an independent entity on its own. There are thousands of cells being born every second and hundreds dying every second without anyone monitoring the process. Every time you learn something, the brain is wiring and re-wiring. Every function that is going on inside your body, be it breathing, digestion, etc. is happening without you even doing anything. Most of the time we are not even aware that our body is doing all this.

How many times in a day do you make an effort to breathe? None!! And these are the main activities... imagine minute details like the blood flowing throughout your body carrying proteins and oxygen to every single cell.

Do you wake up in the morning and initiate the processes of your body? Do you have to keep an alarm to remind you to rest some organs? Do you have to shut down your system before going to bed without fail? Imagine if we had to do all these!! Can there be anything more sophisticated and amazing than this human body? And what are we doing with this body? We are abusing it with alcohol, tobacco, drugs, negative emotions, hatred, and anger.

There is a saying in my native language, “If you grow a jali (a shrub of the family Fabaceae) tree you can’t expect it to give shadow.”Meaning what you sow, you reap. Say you are given an empty bottle and told to fill it up with what you would want to drink from it, what would you fill it up with? Would you fill it up with poison, chemicals, junk?

Our body is just like this, an empty bottle, a very intelligent bottle which can convert everything that it’s given into something useful and throw out what it cannot use. Our body keeps working and never lets us down. It’s like a faithful slave who keeps doing his work without questioning the master. And what do we do in return? Are we being the master it deserves?

Say someone gave you an expensive gift, would you preserve it and take good care of it, or just throw it all around and be reckless with it and destroy it? If not, then why is it that day in and day out we are destroying our beautiful body, the only thing which belongs to us!! Is it because we were given this excellent gift at no cost?

Irrespective of how advanced science is, we are being flocked with so many diseases which generations before us didn’t know and couldn’t even imagine. We are having generations who are starting to be obese at a very young age. We are seeing kids with social and behavioral problems. Why do you think we are being faced with all these problems?

We have been given this wonderful body as a gift, so we can experience life. We need this body to perform all the physical activities we need to do. We have rich taste buds, we need the tongue, the palate to experience the various kinds of food. We need our eyes to see the wonderful colors, we need our ears to hear the beautiful voices, we need our brain to process everything we perceive and absorb and turn it into emotions which can be felt by us. Instead of taking good care of this gift and preserving it, we are feeding it the wrong things and not nourishing it.

It’s high time we recognized this wonderful body and the sacrifices it makes for us and treat it with the respect it deserves. Here are a few good ways to start treating our body right.

1)Meditate.

This is important for your mind and body. The intelligent self resides in your body. Please respect both of them, pay attention to them. Whether you accept it or not, they are the most important aspect of this life. They exist for you and you only.

2)Release negative energy.

a) Hatred: This life is too short to hate someone and hating yourself is definitely not worth it. You are the best version of yourself that can exist. Love yourself. You are the only one of your kind.

b) Anger: Anger is nothing but slow poison, it’s like drinking poison just because the other person is doing wrong. This reminds me of a saying,

“The fire in the house burns the house it is in and not the neighbours.”

There are innumerable things beyond our control. Let go of things beyond your control, you are not here to punish someone or teach someone a lesson, you are here to experience and fulfill your purpose in life.

c) Guilt:This is the worst way to live life. Realize and accept that you are not the doer, someone has already planned everything for us. Let the higher self take control of your life. You did the best you could in the situation you were in. That moment is gone and there is nothing that can be done. It doesn't matter how many times you relive the same thing in your mind, it's over. It's all over, and it all happened for a good reason.

d) Trust life: There is someone beyond you, someone more powerful and aware than you are. Let him handle it. Learn to let go of the things which are beyond you.

e) Have the courage to say no to negative things:Do away with gossiping, negative people, and negative experiences. It sure is hard but it’s the best thing you could do for yourself.

3)Work out.

Do anything that moves your body. Take a walk, get your groove on, do yoga, do Muay Thai, get that body moving!! Your body is going to thank you. Get out in nature and breathe fresh air.

4)Stop self-harm.

Love your body, appreciate it for everything it does. Even before catching a cold your body shows symptoms, it is always loyal to you and will always be. Isn’t it your responsibility to return the same respect that it deserves? Your body has its mind and it’s clever enough to tell you what it likes and what it dislikes, if you don't believe, keep eating after your stomach feels full and you will know what I am talking about. Before someone else can respect you, you need to respect yourself and every aspect of yourself, which includes your body. We all have trauma in our past or present lives, but that doesn’t mean we need to destroy what remains.

5)Finally, be grateful.

Whatever you have and however you are, be grateful, there is always someone who doesn’t have what you already have. Someone is asking for the body you have, someone doesn’t have the health you have, someone doesn’t have the strength and ability you have. Someone might be desperate to live your life for just one day.

Our body stays with us throughout our lives. People come and go: parents, friends, wife, husband, kids, even your shadow leaves you sometimes, but your body stays till the end.

It’s this body that lets you experience your parents' warmth, the butterflies in your stomach when you see your love. It's this body that lets you create your offspring, it’s this body which took you to the peak of Mt. Everest, it's with this body that you experienced every bit of life, and be it happiness, pleasures, or pain. It’s the most loyal friend you can ever ask for.

It’s yours, the most special gift the universe has bestowed you with.

Please be kind on your body, be the master that it deserves. And last but not least, be thankful to the Universe.